Lambe not among Toronto’s big earners
Bermuda international Reggie Lambe will pick up a guaranteed salary of $70,000 from Toronto FC this season, according to figures released by the Major League Soccer (MLS) players’ union.Lambe, who reportedly earned $62,500 during the 2012 campaign, is not among Toronto’s highest earners, with 15 of his team-mates pocketing a bigger salary.Former Netherlands striker Danny Koevermans, who scored just nine goals last season, is punching in as the club’s best-paid player, netting a cool $1,663,323.33, while ex-Celtic defender Darren O’Dea is guaranteed $456,250.Surprisingly, Toronto’s recent capture Robert Earnshaw, who previously played for Norwich and West Bromwich Albion in the English Premier League, is only the team’s eighth highest earner ($155,150).New York Red Bulls striker Thierry Henry, formerly of Arsenal and Barcelona, remained the league’s highest paid player ($4,350.000 million), with ex-Tottenham forward Robbie Keane second ($4,333,333.33).Red Bulls midfielder Tim Cahill was third ($3,625,000) ahead of LA Galaxy’s Landon Donovan ($2,500,000).Toronto’s new head coach Ryan Nelsen, who completed the loan signings of Birmingham City defender Stephen Caldwell, Queens Park Rangers stopper Tal Ben Haim and New Zealand international striker Jeremy Brockie last week, believed the club had been guilty of overpaying players in the past.“With these other players, we’re just bringing them in again to help out the situation until we can find the right guys who we really want to invest in for the long term,” said the former Blackburn and QPR defender.“We are under massive salary-cap restrictions. The club had invested ridiculously in a few individuals and we have had to sort that out.“(Loan deals) aren’t exactly a club philosophy. It was that we had no players when we first came to Toronto.“When we first arrived at the club, nobody had done any scouting and the club was actually a mess. The squad was so unbalanced and the quality was low. We needed a short-term band-aid as quickly as possible. That’s how we got those players.”Toronto, who have never made the MLS play-offs, finished bottom of the standings last season.They are currently ninth in the Eastern Conference having taken only seven points from their opening ten league matches.Former Ipswich winger Lambe, 22, has started every game so far this season for Toronto, who host Columbus Crew on Saturday.